Google plans to start selling digital books this summer through a new service called Google Editions, according to a Wall Street Journal report

WSJ reports Google plan to take on Amazon

Google plans to start selling digital books this summer through a new service called Google Editions, a company official said at a book industry panel in New York, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Analysts have long expected Google to enter the digital bookselling market, where it would compete with Amazon and Apple. Google wants to allow users to buy books from a broad range of sites using many different devices. Google Editions could launch as early as late June.

The company already provides a service called Google Book Search that allows users to search and preview millions of books from libraries and publishers worldwide. With Google Editions, users could buy a digital copy of a book they discover through the search service, WSJ.com said. Also, Google will allow book retailers to sell Google Editions on their own sites, although Palma didn't reveal details.

With the new service, Google would sell current and popular books. Google is also awaiting a decision by US District Court Judge Denny Chin that could endorse a revised settlement Google reached with authors and publishers to distribute millions of out-of-print books digitally. Google explains that agreement on its website.

The US Department of Justice opposed the Google settlement in February, saying it is at odds with US copyright law, which gives copyright owners control over "whether and how to exploit" their works. The DOJ said the settlement confers "possibly anticompetitive advantages on a single entity - Google."